High-contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HICAT): II. Design overview and first light results
Abstract
We present a new high-contrast imaging testbed designed to provide complete solutions in wavefront sensing, control and starlight suppression with complex aperture telescopes. The testbed was designed to enable a wide range of studies of the effects of such telescope geometries, with primary mirror segmentation, central obstruction, and spiders. The associated diffraction features in the point spread function make high-contrast imaging more challenging. In particular the testbed will be compatible with both AFTA-like and ATLAST-like aperture shapes, respectively on-axis monolithic, and on-axis segmented telescopes. The testbed optical design was developed using a novel approach to define the layout and surface error requirements to minimize amplitude induced errors at the target contrast level performance. In this communication we compare the as-built surface errors for each optic to their specifications based on end-to-end Fresnel modelling of the testbed. We also report on the testbed optical and optomechanical alignment performance, coronagraph design and manufacturing, and preliminary first light results.
- Publication:
-
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave
- Pub Date:
- August 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.2056694
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1407.0980
- Bibcode:
- 2014SPIE.9143E..27N
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Proc. of the SPIE 2014, 9143-71. 11 pages, 8 figures